Bag with drawstring closure



April 17, 1962 T. E. PIAZZE 3,029,853

BAG WITH DRAWSTRING CLOSURE Filed Nov. 19, 1959 izvmyrbk. 40 Z/zom lfige,

United States Patent Oil 3,029,853 BAG WITH DRAWSTRING CLOSURE Thomas E.Piazze, Mount Vernon, Ohio, assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc.,New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 19, 1959, Ser. No.854,159 1 Claim. (Cl. 150-11) This invention relates to receptacles andis more particularly concerned with improvements in a flexible baghaving a drawstring in a mouth forming hem for effecting the closure ofthe bag.

Bag-like receptacles or containers have heretofore been provided whichare particularly designed for packaging fresh produce, particularlyfruits and vegetables or like products. Bags for these products havebeen provided which are fabricated from loosely woven fabrics or fromplastic films with drawstring closures in which an endless string isenclosed in a mouth forming hem with a section or loop portion of thestring extending through an aperture in the hem to permit it to begrasped so that the mouth of the bag may be closed by pulling on thestring. However, some difficulties have been encountered in providing asatisfactory bag, particularly, when it is formed of plastic film, witha drawstring closure. It is a general object, therefore, of thisinvention to provide a produce bag having a drawstring closure which isso constructed that it does not tear the hem material when pulledthrough the aperture to effect the closure, which is especially adaptedto be economically produced, and which has advantages over similarconstructions heretofore employed.

It is another object of the invention to provide a produce bag having adrawstring closure in which the string is enclosed in a mouth forminghem and secured therein at spaced points so that the closure may beeffected by pulling on intermediate portions of the string and, when themouth is closed, the string may be utilized as a carrying handle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a bag having adrawstring closure in which two lengths or sections of a string formingmaterial are enclosed in a mouth forming hem and corresponding ends ofthe two string sections are anchored at oppositely disposed points inthe hem while intermediate portions thereof are accessible throughapertures provided in the hem to permit the mouth to be closed bygrasping and pulling on the intermediate portions of the string, withthe string sections forming, when the closure is effected, a handle forcarrying the bag.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom a consideration of the several forms of the bagstructure which areillustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, with portions broken away, of a producebag having incorporated therein the principal features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view, to an enlarged scale, of the top portionof the bag shown in FIGURE 1 with the bag walls partially expanded intoan open position for insertion of merchandise therein;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing one end of the mouth of thebag, to an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 1, toan enlarged scale;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view, of the top portion of the bag shown inFIGURE 1, with the bag mouth gathered into closed condition;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary section similar to FIG- URE 4 illustrating amodified form of the bag; and

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of the top portion of another modified formof the bag.

' ings, there is illustrated a produce container or bag 10 whichincorporates therein the principal features of the' invention. The bag10 is formed of a single sheet of relatively flexible, heat scalablefilm material which is .folded upon itself and which has itssuperimposed side margins heat sealed at 11 and 12 to provide a tubularsection open at one end and closed at the other by the bottom edgeforming fold 13. The bag 10 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 is in collapsedor flattened condition.

The material from which the bag 10 is made is preferably a relativelythin, tough, transparent, continuous plastic film such as, polyethylene,Pliofilm, vinyl or the like, which may be folded as shown and which isreadily heat scalable. The film material may be perforated, if desired,to provide ventilation for the product which it is designed to receive.

The bag 10, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, is provided at its open top endor mouth with a drawstring closure which includes a drawstring 14 and amarginal hem formation 15 in which the drawstring is received.

The marginal hem 15 (FIGURE 4) is formed by folding marginal portions 16of the bag material at the mouth thereof outwardly against the outerface of the adjoining side wall forming portions of the bag material andheat sealing or otherwise securing the same thereto on line 17. Thedrawstring 14 comprises two sections or lengths '18 and 18 of the stringmaterial. The two pieces or sections of string 18 and 18' are arrangedin generally parallel relation in the two portions of the hem forma tion15 when the bag end or mouth is in the collapsed or flattened conditionshown in FIGURE 1, that is, each of the two string sections 18 and 18'is housed in substantially half of the hem 15. The two string sections18 and 18', as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, have corresponding end portions19 and 19 anchored or secured to the hem formation 15 by staples 20 and20 with the latter located adjacent the side edges of the flattened bagor the ends of the hem portions. The two hem portions are provided withapertures 21 and 21 (FIGURE which are located in oppositely disposedrelation in the center of the hem portions so that central portions 22and 22 of the string sections 18 and 18 are accessible and may begrasped with the fingers to close the bag mouth by pulling thereon.Since the end portions 19 and 19' of the string sections are anchored tothe ends of the hem 15 a pulling force applied to the central portions22 and 22 of the string sections results in the bag mouth being gatheredinto the closed condition shown in FIGURE 5. The apertures 21 and 21'are, of course, of sufficient size to permit the center portions 22 and22 of the string sections to be readily grasped between the fingers andpulled through the apertures.

In using the bag 10 the mouth is opened up by separating the walls ofthe bag and the product to be packaged is placed therein. The mouth maythen be closed by grasping the middle portions 22 and 22' of thedrawstring sections and exerting a pulling force on the same in thedirection of the long axis of the bag and away fro-m the mouth of thesame. Where the product has substantial weight, the Weight of theproduct may be utilized to effect the closure of the bag mouth by merelygrasping the string portions 22 and 22 and lifting on the same so as tosuspend the bag and its contents by the strings which results inautomatic closing of the bag mouth as shown in FIG- URE 5 with theextended portions of the string sections forming a carrying handle.These sections may be knotted (not shown) to effect a permanent closureof the bag and prevent any reopening thereof until the knots areremoved.

Another form of the bag is illustrated in FIGURE 6. In this form the hem30 is provided by folding a marginal Patented Apr. 17, 1962;

portion 31 of the bag material at the mouth of the bag inwardly andsecuring the edge thereof by heat sealing or otherwise on the line 32 toprovide an inturned marginal hem which has no edges protruding on theoutside surface of the bag.

A further modification of the bag closure structure is illustrated inFIGURE 7. In this form of the device the bag 40 has a hem formation 41of the same character as the hem formation 15 and a drawstring which isin the form of two sections 42 and 42' of a ribbon or band material withthe ribbon sections 42 and 42 extending as shown in FIGURE 7 when thebag mouth is flattened and having heat seal formations 43 and 43 at theends thereof which anchor corresponding ends of the ribbon sections 42and 42' at spaced points in the hem formation 41. The hem formation 41is provided with apertures 44 which provide access to central portionsof the closure ribbon 42 and 42' so that the latter may be grasped anddrawn away from the mouth of the bag to etfect the closure of the bagmouth in the same manner as in the form of the bag illustrated inFIGURES l to 5.

In all forms of the bag illustrated a fiat bag structure is shown butthe construction is not limited to a flat bag. Other types of bagconstructions may be employed with the drawstring members enclosed in ahem formed in the month thereof in the same manner as in the flap-typebag illustrated. Also in all forms of the bag, the drawstring sectionsmay be somewhat longer than the maximum length of the hem sections whichare adapted to receive the same with a central portion of each stringsection extended in the form of a loop through the aperture provided inthe hem, so that it may be more readily grasped and a force appliedthereto to effect the closure of the bag mouth.

In all forms of the bag which are illustrated the drawstring is shown ascomprising two sections or lengths of the string material. It may bedesirable to use a single length or endless loop of the drawstringmaterial and merely apply an anchoring member or fastening means atoppositely disposed points so that the closing moveif, ment would be thesame as in the forms of the bag illustrated.

While particular materials and specific details of construction havebeen referred to in describing the several forms of the bag closurewhich are illustrated, it will be understood that other materials andequivalent details of construction may be resorted to within the spiritof the invention.

I claim:

In a drawstring closure for a container which is formed of flexiblesheet material and which is characterized by a tube-like body portionhaving a mouth forming end portion which may be closed by bringing theend marginal portions of the side walls into flattened condition or bygathering said side wall marginal portions, said side wall marginalportions being folded upon and secured to the adjoining body portions toform a marginal hem, a drawstring comprising two sections ofsubstantially equal length enclosed in said hem, said drawstringsections being parallel when the mouth of the container is closed bybringing the marginal portions of the side walls into fiattenedcondition and said drawstring sections having their ends secured to thehem at the ends thereof when said hem is in said aforementionedflattened condition, said hem having openings at the center thereofwhich provide access to the middle portions of the drawstring sections,the intermediate portions of the drawstring sections being free to movein the hem so that by pulling on the middle portions of said drawstringsections in an axial direction away from the mouth of the container themouth of the container is gathered into fully closed relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,798,523 Barrett July 9, 1957 2,863,365 Piazze Dec. 9, 1958 2,871,900Auditore Feb. 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 795,843 France Ian. 3, 1936

